William Wang

William Wang (Chinese: 王蔚; pinyin: Wáng Wèi) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of Vizio.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Wang.
William Wang
王蔚
Born
Taipei, Taiwan
EducationUniversity of Southern California
OccupationCEO, Vizio
Known forFounding Vizio
Net worth US$1 billion

Early life

Wang was born in Taipei, Taiwan, moved to Hawaii, United States at the age of 12, and then to California at the age of 14. He attended the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1986.[1]

VIZIO

In 2000, Wang survived the crash of Singapore Airlines Flight 006, suffering only carbon monoxide poisoning. The tragedy provided an opportunity for Wang to reorganize his thoughts and his life. Within two years, Wang had closed down all of his businesses before entering the television market.[2]

In 2001, Gateway, Inc. asked Wang to help put together a TV plan. Ted Waitt [Gateway's then chairman] had been one of Wang's customers at MAG, his former company and had become a mentor to Wang.[2] Wang's team helped Gateway put together its 42-inch plasma TV system, priced at $2999. Comparable systems at the time sold for upwards of $6000.[3] Not long after that, Wang entered into television manufacture with his own firm.

He started "V Inc." in 2002 with Laynie Newsome, Ken Lowe and $600,000.[4] His idea was to combine low prices with high quality and exceptional customer support, and to make this approach profitable through extremely lean operations.[2] When V Inc. was found to be hard to pronounce, he renamed the company VIZIO Inc.[2] – the name used for their plasma TV. The company is now one of the largest sellers of LCD HDTVs in North America with a multibillion-dollar revenue.[5]

References
  1. USC, USC Class of 86'
  2. Wang, William (June 1, 2007). "How I Did It: William Wang, CEO, Vizio". Inc.
  3. Ogg, Erica. "The Secret of VIZIO's Success". CNET.com. CNET. Retrieved 10 Feb 2011.
  4. Ogg, Erica. "CNET". The Secret of VIZIO's Success. CNET.com.
  5. "The 2010 Inc. 5000: Top 10 Companies by Revenue". Inc. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
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